The term most often associated with forge welded steel blades. The term originated in Damascus Syria where, from the 3rd to 17th century, crucible steel ingots known as “Wootz” were imported from India and Sri Lanka to be forge welded into knife, sword, and tool blades. The term Damascus, though, is now often used to describe almost all forge and pattern welded blades from around the world.

This is where the the forged to shape texture on the majority of the blade surface is left on to illustrate the smiths skill, enhance aesthetics, etc

A Japanese term for the visual change in the blade produced by a “differential heat treatment”. During the final heat treatment, when the soft steel is transformed into hard, portions of the blade can be selected by the smith to intentionally not harden, by means of a ceramic clay insulation applied to those portions of the blade.  This is done to selectively harden certain areas, such as the edge and tip, while leaving areas such as the spine and tang more malleable. This allows the blade to remain flexible, yet still have a durable and hard cutting edge. Furthermore, this process is yet another area where the smith can showcase his skill and control.

A term borrowed from the firearms world, meaning the ability to disassemble the knife from the handle assembly without tools. This not only allows the knife to be easily re-sharpened, have fresh surface treatments applied, and ease of concealment, but also highlights the smith’s skill in overall fit and finish.

The base material, whether it be a Damascus steel or a monosteel, is heated to between 1500-2000 degrees and hammered by hand into the profile of the knife on an anvil. This can take as little as an hour or as long as several days. 

The portion of the blade that extends into the handle, attaching it to the grip. This can be “full” meaning it occupies a large portion of the handle, “tapered” to create a wedge fit into the grip, “threaded” meaning it has a nut screwed to the end, or “hidden”, meaning it is entirely concealed within the grip.  There are literally countless ways to approach this area.

The removal of material from a blade by sanding or filing but used often to describe the geometry of the blade itself. For instance a “flat grind” would be a flat taper from thick to thin. A “hollow grind” is concave, like a straight razor, etc. The grind you choose must be mated to the task you are asking the knife to do. For Instance, a very thin flat grind won’t make an ideal axe, where as a thick convex grind will not make a great razor.